Country of the year award goes to...

Ukraine. Against all odds, good has prevailed when the Russian-allied party went too far and poisoned Yushenko. For those of you who think people don't have the power, it's not true. even though the election was rigged, everyone thought it was all over and stitched up. But the pro-Europe Orange party came out in their thousands, blocking the government buildings and staying out in the cold night and day in Kiev. And it worked, with practically no bloodshed. Amazing.

And this amazing turn in history is already inspiring democracy and people power elsewhere, now in Lebanon, who are throwing out the Syrians.

"The Lebanese opposition has demanded a full investigation of Mr. Hariri's assassination, the resignation of the government, and an immediate pullout of Syria's 14,000 troops from Lebanon. Opposition leaders say they have consciously imitated the popular uprising in Ukraine, where demonstrators forced the government to call a new election after accusations of corruption."
- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/international/middleeast/
01lebanon.html

To their credit, America has sided with the good guys on both these issues. It is nice to be on the good side of history sometimes.